Real Man-Chapter 821
Yoo-hyun asked.
“What was the name of the new president? Christina Merson, right?”
“Yes. But the problem is that she hasn’t done any public activities yet, so there’s no information about her.”
“Perez said he hasn’t met her recently either…”
-I had seen that little girl a few times because our families were connected. I didn’t know she would enter the business world so soon.
Christina Merson was barely in her thirties.
Moreover, she had not gone through a proper succession process due to her complicated family situation.
She had taken the helm of a giant corporation at a very early stage.
Would there be any side effects from this process?
Just looking at the cases of Korean chaebols that Yoo-hyun had experienced, the difficulties were obvious.
And she had chosen to attend a business banquet as her first external activity.
She must have wanted to show her presence.
Then what?
Yoo-hyun thought carefully about the gaps in her strategy.
Jeong Da-hye said to him.
“Even if you’re Yoo-hyun, this won’t be easy.”
“I know. It will take at least a month to change her mind even if I figure her out perfectly. It won’t happen as soon as we meet.”
“So don’t feel pressured. It won’t matter even if things go wrong with Jallando. I’ll stop bothering you and go back too.”
The negotiation with Jallando was only for expanding the territory faster.
Since it was just the beginning in Europe, there were plenty of opportunities even without Jallando.
‘Maybe Jallando will change his mind later.’
Yoo-hyun nodded.
“Okay. I’ll attend with a light heart.”
He said that, but various plans flashed through his mind.
A few days later.
The business banquet hosted by Perez Bago was held at a hotel in Paris, France.
The exterior of the luxury hotel located between the Louvre Museum and the Seine River was so dignified that it looked like a historical monument.
The inside of the hotel was very sophisticated and elegant, with dazzling chandeliers and various artworks decorating the place.
It was a majestic place that was considered one of the best among five-star hotels.
Wow.
Yoo-hyun entered the banquet hall with admiration and looked around.
People were drinking champagne and chatting along with the calm classical music.
Business banquet?
It was common to imagine a presenter in front of a large screen, but this was different.
It was not a place to show off or ask for each other’s technology, but to make connections.
If he had to compare, it was similar to the Channel VVIP invitation he had attended before.
It was like a party for the upper class.
A woman approached him in that atmosphere.
Excuse me.
The woman checked the name tag on Yoo-hyun’s neck and asked cautiously.
“Are you… the representative of River?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I heard a lot about you from Perez. You are a handsome man as I heard.”
“I don’t know what to do when I hear that from a beauty. Thank you, Elizabeth.”
“Ho ho. I’m grateful even if you say that. I actually had something to say about River…”
Yoo-hyun responded to her with ease and the woman expressed her opinion willingly.
Yoo-hyun’s way of leading the conversation looked very natural.
He had not attended many European upper-class banquets, but he had prepared a lot to persuade CEOs from various countries.
This kind of response was not a problem at all.
What about Jeong Da-hye?
“Thanks to your cooperation with us this time…”
“Ho ho ho. Really?”
He glanced at her and saw that she was making strangers laugh easily.
Her gestures and eye contact showed that she had manners in her body.
She seemed to have gained a lot of experience by staying here for a long time.
Yoo-hyun’s lips curled up at her grown-up appearance.
He was meeting many people and spending time like that.
A woman appeared with a fan covering half of her face and guarded by bodyguards.
Buzz buzz.
Perez Bago recognized her and ran to her in one step.
“Christina, long time no see.”
“Yes, Perez. How have you been?”
She was young, but the heiress of the best investment company in Europe.
Perez Bago showed respect and the others also showed interest.
Yoo-hyun also prepared to greet her.
Click click.
The woman followed Perez Bago’s guidance and came in front of Yoo-hyun.
She had a confident expression that showed her dignity as a noble family.
Yoo-hyun greeted her politely.
“Christina, nice to meet you. I’m Steve Han.”
“No. We’ve met before.”
“Really?”
“Oh, maybe you didn’t recognize me because I was wearing sunglasses?”
The woman smiled and folded her fan.
Bang.
Suddenly, Yoo-hyun remembered the face of the dog owner he had met in Sweden a while ago.
If she took off her sunglasses, she would look similar to the woman in front of him.
More than anything, her voice was very similar.
He felt a chill and looked at her expression, but there was no sign of surprise.
She must have known that Yoo-hyun was here before she came to this place.
Did she intend this meeting?
‘Why…?’
Yoo-hyun hid his confusion and Perez Bago asked him curiously.
“Steve, did you know Christina?”
“It seems so.”
Yoo-hyun nodded and Christina Merson said.
“Steve, can we talk for a moment? I think we have something to talk about.”
He had a feeling that she was not friendly at all.
Jeong Da-hye tried to intervene with the same thought.
“Um…”
Tap tap.
Yoo-hyun reassured her and smiled at Christina Merson.
“Sure. Let’s have a glass of champagne.”
Whoosh.
Yoo-hyun stepped out to the outdoor terrace and leaned on the railing, looking at the Seine River.
Christina Merson, who was gazing at the same place, offered him a glass of champagne.
“It’s amazing. To meet again like this.”
“Didn’t you want this meeting?”
“You’re quick-witted. Steve Han, the representative of River, is that why you’re so confident?”
She lifted one corner of her mouth and clinked her glass with his.
Clang.
He could feel the resentment in her words.
She didn’t even bother to hide that she had done some background research on him.
‘She must have been hurt by the apology I made in front of everyone.’
It was ridiculous, but considering her absurd behavior back then, he could understand her current attitude.
Yoo-hyun answered calmly.
“I was not confident, but just responding rationally.”
“Rationality… I think I should take some rational measures too.”
“What do you mean?”
“River is a pretty good company. It would be beneficial for Jallando to cooperate with you. But instead of just shaking hands superficially, it would be better to integrate our systems.”
She meant to replace Jallando’s review system with River’s.
If that was possible?
He could use the successful collaboration model with Jallando as a stepping stone to negotiate with online shopping malls around the world.
Jallando was a powerful company.
What was her intention to offer such a favor?
“That’s a good proposal.”
“I knew you would say that. This kind of opportunity doesn’t come often to a new company.”
“You must have something you want in return for giving me this opportunity.”
“Well, nothing much. I just want to hear your sincere apology.”
“Apology?”
“Yes. For being rude to Alex and me. You have to beg for forgiveness.”
Was this the kind of idea that the head of the largest investment company would have?
He was so dumbfounded that Yoo-hyun laughed.
“What did I do wrong, and what kind of apology do I have to make?
“It doesn’t matter whether you did wrong or not. The fact that my pride was hurt is unchanged.”
“…”
“If you don’t apologize, it’s not just the negotiation that will break down, but the whole River will suffer. And the countless employees under you too.”
She meant to retaliate.
Merson AB had secured a large offline distribution network that was the basis of Jallando, and also controlled a large amount of online data in Europe through a cloud computing company called Kinetic.
Their power was immense, having both logistics and data.
If he made them his enemies?
It would be very annoying.
In the worst case, not only River but also the connected companies could be harmed.
It was hard to recover from a wound once inflicted.
“…”
She smirked as she saw Yoo-hyun lost in thought.
‘There’s no use in thinking.’
She had already checked River’s position in Europe.
A slightly successful new company.
They had some skills, but nothing special.
If he was the representative of such a company?
He would go crazy in front of this golden opportunity to grow his company.
‘He won’t be a fool to miss such a huge benefit.’
Of course, even if he apologized, he wouldn’t get what he wanted so easily.
She clenched her chin and looked down at Yoo-hyun.
Swoosh.
He lifted his head and answered calmly.
“I have no intention of mixing personal matters with business.”
“You have more pride than I thought.”
“It’s not pride, but I just can’t accept such an irrational proposal.”
She frowned at his unexpected answer.
“Don’t you know the situation well…”
“No. I know exactly. Even if I apologize, the negotiation with Jallando will be difficult.”
No matter how much Merson AB was the largest shareholder of Jallando, they couldn’t change their business model so easily.
Even if they could, the woman in front of him was not the kind of person who would make such an effort.
Christina Merson snorted.
“Then you must know what I will do if you don’t.”
“I just hope you will respond with at least some common sense.”
“That’s funny. I also want to see you regretting and banging the ground.”
“I don’t think I’ll be the one to regret.”
The eyes of the two people who faced each other sparkled.
It was after the banquet.
Perez Bago shook his head as he heard Yoo-hyun’s story.
“Could it be… that Christina Merson would go that far?”
Even he, who had seen all kinds of irrational behaviors of the European nobles, thought that it was absurd to jeopardize the company’s business for the sake of pride.
But was that really the case?
Yoo-hyun’s thought was different from his, having seen the evil deeds of many chaebols in Korea.
Stagnant water tends to rot.
No matter how respected the Swedish chaebols were, there would be problems if they handed over the company to their bloodline without considering their abilities.
“It may not be, but we have to be prepared.”
“This is ridiculous, how are they going to do that…”
Jeong Da-hye, who was next to him, analyzed coldly.
“If they really mean it, they will first block the links that come in after seeing River’s reviews.”
“They will. That’s the easiest way.”
“Then we will be in trouble. She just inherited the company, she should care more about her reputation.”
Perez Bago’s words were not wrong.
The problem was that the other person was irrational.
“She can ignore that. Merson AB has a tight grip on Europe’s IT industry.”
“Then what should we do?”
“First, let me tell you my thoughts. What I’m going to do is…”
Yoo-hyun assumed the worst situation and immediately got ready.
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